A to Z 2014 Banner

Thursday, May 16, 2013

BEDiM 2013 : DAY 16

So
tonight has been fairly interesting. Been visiting some friends I’ve
not hung out with for a long time. It’s been a lot of fun so far, but
taking a quick break to make my daily entry.

Today’s prompt:

Day 16, Thursday: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it.

First World Problems

I
have to be honest, I don’t think I have very many hardships that aren’t
self induced. My main materialistic hardship is money. Most in my
family have never had luck in money. I should say, at least my side of
the family. Or... however you would explain it. It seems the half of the
family that is detached from those I’m mainly associated with have had
quite their fair share of luck when it comes to income/money.

There
was a family divide — before my time — between my grandfather (now
passed) and his brother. I’m not exactly sure what caused the wedge, but
I essentially know no one from that half of the family. I don’t even
recall their half having family reunions. I’ll have to ask about that.

Either
way, what I do know is that I rarely have any excess cash on hand. This
is how it is for many people, though, and a lot of it is the result of
my lack of ambition/motivation to change it. I’ve always just sort of
skimmed by on the bare minimum.

I know many others have it way worse, so I do my best to not complain.

No More Pets, Except For Birds

While
I may feel devoid of any serious hardships and dealings of bad luck in
life, the same can’t be said for my friend’s daughter. She is five years
old, and it’s been one hell of a day for her. From the moment we
arrived it’s been one trauma after another.

When
getting out of the car she ran up to us and saw a wasp. Suddenly she
let out a scream, as she made sure to keep track of where the wasp was
flying. This wasn’t just a short, sharp scream, but one that continued
until her nemesis buzzed off.

Within
the next ten minutes she was mauled by her own pet cat. She was holding
it when the neighbor’s dog came up, scaring the cat, causing her pet to
scratch her arm, stomach, and shoulder while frantically attempting to
escape her grasp. We were alerted by her screams, once again, piercing
the silence of this beautiful, Spring day.

The
scratches were pretty superficial, but to a five year old they were
like the end of the world. Some highlights (in order that I can recall):

“I never want to see that dog again!”

“Oh my god, oh my god, OH MY GOD!”

“This is the worst day ever!”

“I’m afraid that I’m not going to live.”

“No more cats, no more dogs. I don’t need them! No more pets, except for birds. I like birds.”

To that last comment her father, a friend since high school, replied, “But birds can peck your eyes out.”

Smooooooth.

Between
each statement given, she was screaming at the top of her lungs and
crying. I couldn’t help but laugh when she wasn’t around to see/hear me
doing so. I found it hilarious. Sad at first, because the scratches had
to have hurt, but the reactions were so over the top I couldn’t help it.

She
contemplated many things during the traumatic experience. Perhaps she
should get rid of the cat. Maybe she should become the pet killer. That
one was a little scary... All pets were evil, but eventually their new
dog Freya was exempt from this accusation.

Eventually she got over it. Neosporin was applied to her battle scars and she was once again reverted to her playful self.

So
regardless of what hardships I may feel I have in life, there are some
that have it worse. Like those with pets... that aren’t birds.

Do you feel you have any specific hardships currently in life? Have you ever had a traumatic experience with a pet?

I used to be scared shitless of cats. I was scratched on my hand pretty bad by my uncle's cat...probably around age 5! Or something. Since I was never around cats as a kid, that was enough to convince me. I never liked cats much until a couple years ago. I also was bit my a neighbor's dog once because he wanted the peanut butter sandwich in my hand. But since I grew up with a dog, I didn't blame the dog nor had any further fears. That's about it, I think.

I have come t realize that I prefer fat cats. All the cats I have grown a liking to in the past 4 years have all been, rotund, so to speak. ;)

Maybe it is there shape that makes me feel better about mine.

Funny isn't it? I was bit a few times by my dog growing up but that never really created a fear. Ah well. I am okay with most dogs and cats these days, as long as I am not allergic. Maybe not snakes though...*shudder*

Oh I almost forgot my hardships. My car was totaled. So I have no vehicle which is perfect timing. Because I can't drive as I just had a screw put into my right ankle. Which I fell on the week after the surgery and now have to go next Friday and have more surgery on to add in more screws to fix what I shifted when I fell. But it's all good. I have a home, a wonderful son, and a family that loves me. Woot!

haha...that is funny. My little grandson is like this. He's three and SO crazy over-the-top with his reactions!! His life is one tragedy after another.

And man, I hear ya about the money. I could have more if I was more ambitious I guess. The thing is, I like my life the way it is. I love having the time to pursue my passions and I'm happy. Even though i stress about money sometimes, when push comes to shove, I'd rather be happy than have a few extra dollars in the bank.

Money is just...money. It comes and goes. Happiness is forever. :) That's my Pollyanna moment of the day. haha

I don't like YOUR cat, luckily I was not traumatized and continue to enjoy cats...not fond of birds tho...one sat on my brothers head once when he was about 3/4 years old...he screamed and the bird pooped on his head...I think it was a robin...good times

That 5 year old sounds like a trip! I would have been laughing with you. Shoot, I'm laughing right now and I didn't even see it happen.I was so traumatized by dogs when I was little, as an adult, if a dog I didn't know started to approach me, I'd freeze, and just stand there paralyzed with tears streaming down my face.Our first dog was horrible. It bit three of us (me in the hand) before my parents gave it away. We lived in a house which had terribly viscous dogs across the street that were always chained up in the driveway. A couple of times, they got loose and came after us. My mom had to beat them off with a broom until we got inside. Once, they were so bad tearing after us, that my dad, a policeman who had just gotten home from work, shot at them to make them stop. We had many more dogs after that, one was even a pit bull. All were friendly, but I was never comfortable with them. Oh, and one was huge but gentle as could be. Unless we siblings started fighting or wore a hat. If we fought, he would grab one of us by our pantsleg and drag the offender out of the room. (I got drug down the stairs once.) If one of us wore a hat, he would jump up and rip it off our head. I never saw my mom laugh so hard as the day we were all out playing in the snow. The dog ran around grabbing all of our hats, but when he got to my sister, she had a hood on instead. When he grabbed it, she came with it. He drug her around the yard trying to get it off of her, and while she screamed, we all laughed our full heads off.Aaand that was long enough to be its own post.

You would have been cracking up. It was hard... I had to keep leaving out to the balcony because I didn't want her to see me laughing. Really wishing I had a camera or had been able to record it somehow.

ACK that is terrible, thankfully I don't recall ever having a violent pet. Or one that would bite or the like. We watched one dog, once, that would. Screw that thing. I think it was a bulldog.

Did you just eventually come to grow out of your fear of dogs? At least to the point where a random dog never evoked that reaction anymore? It is weird this was a reaction developed after having really good experiences too.

That is a hilarious story! lol Do you have any pictures of it happening? That would be amazing.

You SHOULD do a post about that :) It's a great story. OR a blurb on one of your multi subject posts!

Jak Stats

You may say I'm a dreamer...

I'm just a Dreamer who would love nothing more than to write for a living. Preferably fiction short stories/novels, but beggars can't be choosers, can they?

After coming off a 12 year writer's block in 2012 (Thanks to NaNoWriMo), I am attempting my hand at some blogging. The goal being to just remain consistent; to write a little each day, if possible. I post about one entry a week on each blog (1 journal based/1 fiction based/more to come).

Nothing published, just a jumbled concoction of ideas/themes/scenes/dreams that have existed in my head since being a kid. It would be nice to finally be able to pull them out, and make room for more.

So follow along, comment/discuss, share a tale or three. I am hoping to make new connections along this journey!